Today, while I was walking home alone, a homeless man approached me and took me by the hand. Apparently, he's been watching me for weeks and has fallen madly in love with me. He told me not to worry, though; he's not a rapist. FML

31- Hi, welcome to Canada. If you walk around with a pistol out in the open and you're not a cop, you get tasered or shot and depending on which, dragged to jail or dragged to the morgue. :p
Kinda hard to legally have one and the conditions for owning one as a civilian, are strict.

63- By that logic alone, you would be correct. Making something illegal usually works for people not willing to do something illegal. Restricts the law abiders, but doesn't affect the "bad guys", right?
Well, I didn't say I supported gun control per say, it's more I've accepted it and the idea an illegal firearm is more difficult to procure to someone who doesn't need it, is a mild comfort.
74- I already presumed you were American, and certainly knew you weren't Canadian, based on your response alone. However, the Only reason I said "Welcome to Canada" was to point out that Op Was Canadian, hense, in all likelihood, did not have normal access to pistols. :p
Mind you, she could go get a shotgun a lot easier....with the same reaction from police if she starts carting that around carelessly as well. ;)

83, It also protects people from the idiots whose only barrier to these crimes is access, and the other idiots who carry guns around because they're afraid of everything and are extremely dangerous because it doesn't take much to set them off.
The comment about the taser is a perfect example of what I mean, if she has a taser she's likely to use it because she's scared when in reality it may be a case of overkill. The guy sounds reasonably harmless, just a little mentally off. So get a taser if you feel safer with it, but make absolutely sure you don't use it unless he's actually attacking you...

63: It's a trick question. It's impossible to deter all crime--even if every single person was a cop and carried a shotgun, there'd still be crime, it'd just be committed by cops and more people would have shotguns.
Deterrence is a shitty strategy for controlling crime. Prevention is cheaper and more effective, and fewer people end up getting shot.

Well he's homeless right? He has nothing to do but watch people and sleep. Besides, of he's been watching you for weeks that means you've walked down that same path home for weeks. I kinda feel bad for that homeless guy though.

And of course you feel completely comfortable with his infatuation, right? So, declining him couldn't possibly entice a negative reaction, could it? Being that he's not a rapist and all... :p
Scary, and sorry, Op.

OP: Thanks for taking me out to dinner, I had a great time.
HP: Anytime, so did I. Are you free next Friday?
OP: Yep! I guess I'll see you then?
HP: You can count on that. You're paying, right?
OP: Uh.. Sure? See you next week.
HP: See you!
OP: *walks inside*
HP: *crawls under luxurious cardboard box*
This is love, you guys.